Viatcheslav Ekimov becomes a three time Olympic Champion...

Viatcheslav Ekimov was a silver medalist in Sydney, but due to American cyclist Tyler Hamilton's use of banned substances, he was finally awarded gold today. What's even more remarkable about Ekimov's achievement is the duration of his career. He won his first Olympic gold in 1988! Very impressive.

anyone know what is happening with Lance investigation? I saw on news another champion cyclist (did not catch name) was being investigated too. It will be a sad day for Lance, his family and his adoring fans (but not Cheryl, that is for sure) if he is stripped of 7 medals. I have not followed this, nor cycling, but I guess it was not about the bike, but winning a lot of medals. What do cyclists generally use to get the edge chemically?

If Lance is convicted, we may not see Eki inherit the gold; he was Lance's teammate until he retired, and then joined the team staff, and he may have been involved enough they won't let him plea bargain. Even if he avoids being stripped of the silver, IOC might do what they did with one of Marion Jones' golds, where the initial silver medalist had gotten in trouble in 2004 so they left her joint silver medalist with the initial bronze medalist. Though that begs the question if the bronze medalist & 4th place from 2004 hves nothing on their records. And by the way, the guy who stands to inherit 6 of Lance's 7 Tour de France titles is generally thought to have been doping too, and the guy who would inherit the last has admitted to "attempted doping" and there's evidence he may have done more than that! It's so bad in cycling one honestly wonders what the use is.

Viatcheslav Ekimov was a silver medalist in Sydney, but due to American cyclist Tyler Hamilton's use of banned substances, he was finally awarded gold today. What's even more remarkable about Ekimov's achievement is the duration of his career. He won his first Olympic gold in 1988! Very impressive.

If Lance is convicted, we may not see Eki inherit the gold; he was Lance's teammate until he retired, and then joined the team staff, and he may have been involved enough they won't let him plea bargain. Even if he avoids being stripped of the silver, IOC might do what they did with one of Marion Jones' golds, where the initial silver medalist had gotten in trouble in 2004 so they left her joint silver medalist with the initial bronze medalist. Though that begs the question if the bronze medalist & 4th place from 2004 hves nothing on their records. And by the way, the guy who stands to inherit 6 of Lance's 7 Tour de France titles is generally thought to have been doping too, and the guy who would inherit the last has admitted to "attempted doping" and there's evidence he may have done more than that! It's so bad in cycling one honestly wonders what the use is.

This is truly disheartening to hear. One can't be sure of what one is watching when viewing a cycling competition, it seems. One thing about following a sport such as figure skating is that there's less benefit to the athletes from any kind of drug usage. Our frustrations with judging scandals pale by comparison.

On the other hand, one can see why cycling so invites abuse. The aerobic capacity required is truly astounding, plus the need to recover quickly again and again, especially in a multi-day, long-distance competition such as the Tour de France. Maybe they should give prizes to the people who come in last, not the ones who come in first.

It's so ironic: Lance Armstrong had to undergo chemo for cancer as a young man. You would think he would be so scared of putting anything into his body that might upset the balance of his cellular processes and cause a recurrence of the disease.